Controller Power Revamp

i spent so much time and money leveling up power troll arts just to join groups and they want buff trolls. made me go tank, i miss being HL and mental but the troll role is goofy now

I would say that those of us who "LOVE" Controlling but have noticed the changes to the role over the years should make it a point to note this in these "surveys" that DI issues every now and then.

I will certainly make a detailed comment about my concerns with the role with our next survey. On "MY" next survey I'll list my concerns about the role as follows:

- Need MECHANICS in future content that drain power from the ENTIRE party and make it likely that AT LEAST ONE POWER Troller and AT LEAST ONE BUFF TROLLER is present - or at least one of the 4-5 DPS can switch to either Troll style if one goes down.

- BALANCE CONTROLLER ARTIFACTS. Give us an IMPROVEMENT on the RAO Amulet at level 200 - from its current max 15% debuff to 18 - 20% debuff %.

- Give a SERIOUS look at OTHER Controller-Specific Artifacts that can be buffed / enhanced - whether its to improve stuns for ADDS...improve SHIELDS....perhaps focus Power Dumps to specific power-hungry group members like the Healer or Tank.....

- Make DOMINANCE for Controllers GREAT, again....didn't at ONE TIME Dominance was the SECOND most important trait for Controllers? And didn't the classic raid ToTD have a DOMINANCE Gate for Controllers to even participate in that raid? Make HIGHER DOM for Controllers KEY in holding / stunning ADDS longer.......

This doesn't mean that we're taking TANKS jobs...but perhaps this will give Controllers the opportunity to closer coordinate WITH TANKS as far as crowd controlling.

- I'd even go as far as allowing CONTROLLERS ONLY the ability to slot FOUR artifacts. I know this comment will get some eyes on it but seriously what OTHER ROLES in the game have had to level up so many artifacts, lol? Most competitive End-Gamers like myself have leveled 5 or 6 DPS-Specific artifacts AS WELL AS several CONTROLER-Specific ones - just to stay current.

- Introduce creative ways to LESSEN power-back for DPS. The changes for DPS in this game where they can generate their OWN POWER have helped to facilitate the changes for Controllers.

- Introduce BOSSES or even Special Adds that need DEBUFFING - like Devastator in our latest alert. Make these Bosses / Adds a part of the game going forward. And NO - no token "Few Seconds of Green Target or Green Defense Shield ONLY" for some bosses. Make that GREEN Buff for some bosses so PAINFUL that DPS will cry in LFG for Controllers that DEBUFF.......

- Make that GREEN BUFF for BOSSES REMAIN active and make their attacks so painful that DPS will NEED a Debuffing Controller to make that Green Buff go away.

Us BUFF Controllers ALREADY are looking at having a CLAW, a TETRA (for MIGHT DPS), and a COG (for Precision DPS) in our artifact loadout. AT LEAST give us a FOURTH slot to perhaps keep a RAO Amulet?

I strongly suggest others that are concerned do the same on THEIR next DI Surveys as well.

Doesn't mean that we do not like "THE GAME ITSELF" but we can offer commentary / constructive criticism to let the Devs know that we don't like how The Controller Role is progressing.

At the point we're going - they are subtly changing the Controller role as we speak....it has been a SUBTLE change over the years....nothing TOO DRASTIC at one time - but make no mistake the role IS changing.

What I've found is that comments that offer constructive concern and criticism are the ones they'll most likely pay attention to. And THE MORE that share such concerns the more likely something positive comes of it.

"Hate" comments are perhaps read one time then tossed aside. Be respectful BUT make our concerns known.

Only issue with making content drain the teams power is that all the players that chose to go the buff route with artis and all associated things would probably then be left out. Players don’t need a buff troll, they want a buff troll. Power trolls can debuff so groups would just still run with 1 troll and most likely run another dps vs a buffer. And possibly make pet builds the meta for that raid since they don’t care as much about buff trolls.

This is a TRUE comment, but after about a year of seeing requests for "Buff Controllers" you'd better not volunteer for a raid party that asks for one and not have the prerequisite Buff Arts...

Try explaining to 4-5 DPS what they need / don't need, lol........

You'll be kicked promptly.

At this point the cats are out of the bag and they are running all over the house, out of control, chasing the poor dogs.....

yes it does im talking about without having an artifact causing the buff

I can't remember the last time I had it in my loadout but do tanks still use their Group Breakout? What if Group Breakouts were moved over to controllers?

Burnout, Eternal Flame, Soothing Sands, Ire and Neutrino Blast could become a stronger heal. Shatter Restraints could become a stronger shield or a heal. Or all of the above could be adjusted into a Heal + Shield combo or something new altogether.

was there a section on the survey that asked if we were happy with each role? I feel like tanks and healers are fine its just the controller role thats been in limbo for a few years since the first buff arts

-I respectfully disagree that being a controller is a challenging role ONLY because of a few reasons. Yes with time invested in a role, one should definitely see the impacts but of all the roles I still believe trolling is the ONE OF the least hardest TO ME. Each role has its challenges. Properly stunning adds, timing your shields, debuffing, are all not difficult traits to do for experienced trolls. Reviving downed teammates and making sure your Group stays powered should not be a problem unless there are 3+ ppl down, especially as a quantum troll, Trolls should take pride in getting revs and cogs since you have the personal shield and others may not. Especially now with trolls swapping 5-6 artifacts mid fight that adds an element of a skill gap but yet controlling still is one of those roles were anyone can still pick up and do with little effort. But of course, knowledge of the raid and knowing when to pop things is not a controller insight thing but a player awareness thing. A controller should naturally know "hey let me stun these adds to help the tank until he can grab them, O let me pop a GS for the group when this happens etc...." those are all natural instincts that every player should have not just controllers.

1- The controller role is one of the few roles were one can complete a raid/alert without one(I'm speaking of most commonly formed groups) if a tank dies in an élite raid you cant beat it, if the heal dies you cant beat it, if the dps die you cant beat it , if the trolls dies you still can beat it. The troll is MAINLY there to provide power. If the troll dies the only thing you notice is your power bar not being filled back up,.....If a dps dies you notice slow burn, if a heal dies you notice no heals, if a tank dies you notice you getting 2 peiced by adds or boss.....which many have already noted in the comments
2- The one role that was carried through SM RD 30(which at the time was the gold standard for difficulty) was a troll role.....I had friends who were not main trolls swapping to the troll role to a battle troll just in order to get an easy carry to beat RD 30 simply because all you had to do was able to debuff while dpsing and the other group members would do the rest. That cant be said for the dps, healer, and certainly not a tank
3- PERSONALLY for me, in order to learn to troll, i simply created a troll toon really quick and watched a video and and bam I beating Olympus elite with zero extra knowledge of trolling and that was it, learning the whens and the hows came with just playing the role more and more and understanding raid timing/mechs.....It was as easy as learning wat each power does and debuffing and giving out power.
4- I like the suggestions you made that the devs should defiantly revamp some mechs to make the troll role more impactful which by your own admission is just stating that trolls just dont have enough importance towards raid mechs....PCe 1st boss was a perfect example of this...the troll was important because without the troll it was VERY difficult to pass the fb. TSDe LB made it somewhat important for like 3 seconds but after that nope....So i definlty agree that there should be MORE for the troll to do because at the current state there just isnt.

Appreciate your reply and the discussion

I appreciate all the responses to keep this topic engaging and respectful

It seems like you want to go back to 2 trolling again lol but there is no need to.....art swapping has really expanded how effective a troll can be without needing a second troll....RAO is a must have for trollers in your artifact loadout...Your looking at restricting power sets so they can be more power dependant and making raid mechs require a power dump. Power dumps can be negated with philisoper stone which we saw happen in TSDE crit runs during LB and with the power sets, we saw what happened with the gadgets fix, everyone just swapped powers because the power consumption was too much but some stayed and have switched back.....Adding the forth artifact slot for an art swapping troll would be over kill and would eliminate all hopes of the 2nd troll being needed. With art swapping 5-6 arts and being dom/health specced you are still able to power dump just as efficient as a power troll, maybe not as much but you will be able to sustain power for 4-5 gadgs prec in your group as a BUFF troll.

as a veteran, that only plays, trolls, i play, Quantum, Hardlight, Gadgets, started a mental one about a year ago, and i've been playing with munitions,
i mainly try and throw the stun debuff, and defences lower debuff, the red shield and red cross hair one, mainly, if the boss, heals, i will put a healing magnitude one on, "red heart" but most part, i dont use that one, cause i try and do damage, while controlling, along with power ,

i know there are the 3 types of main controller rolls, most have spoke, the buff troll. the power, and debuff, i think just finding a middle ground for any powerset i play , works for the groups that know what theyre doing in raids, works fine, i toss the two debuffs, power heal, ranged AM attack, power heal, x2, again, then rinse repeat by re applying debuffs, i'm more of a debuff/power troll then buff controller i think is more important, due to healers, being able to throw shield every once and awhile, and keeping everyone healed, my methods usually go well with most healers and tanks.

i don't know how i would get use to losing a slot for a group breakout, i mean heck yea, it would be awesome to have the skill, but, the one thing about this mmo, is different then many / most or all mmos, is the action slots, aka Loadout space, since the MMO was modified for controller base UI , it added another type of hurdle for setting a rotation, only having 6 available slots to add powers , a specified soda/heal potion slot, and the trinket spot, the utility belt, is a great add, if the wild card slot allowed players to add powers, that would be awesome, but, all that said
a break out would depending on if its a supercharge ability or not, i wouldn't keep it on my loadout for a normal everyday loadout, unless raids,/alert needed it.

I dont agree with this....You most DEFINETLY notice when you have a good tank and a good heal in your group....I have been on the receiving end and giving end of healing and tanking....When I tank, i instantly notice if the heals are bad or not escpially when my health is at 30% for 5 seconds and when they are OP it stands out especially when they are solo healing if the other heal dies....When I'm healing a tank I can tell if they are REALLY good or REALLY bad you can only bandage so much bad play but when a role is BAD it is noticable except the troll...When you have a bad troll you dont really notcie and that goes to the P0T that you said....perfect example why you dont notice, because everyone is already receiving P0T in some sort. Theres a reason why a group cant beat the current elite raid without a good heal or good tank but can beat it with a bad troll. Because power is so self sustainable now with sodas, SDs, Power regen with combos, plus P0T.

Appreciate your response.

hahaha

In terms of the feat, you have to get the cog and beat the boss fight before the feat pops

for BOP.....since I'm able to art swap, I use the BOP/RAO and swap claw/ring/tet/parasite/scrap/chains....The BOP prevents over ccing of adds that could mess up the tank. dont worry more people will be using it soon when they realize how OP it actually is for "inventory trolls"

I love hearing 'Damn my (insert power) hit for that much"

That punishes might dps tho because they are the main benefactors of that art and people would stray away from that art if it causes a drastic power consumption tho just like the gadgets fix

I love the CC for bosses.....Maybe troll has to CC the boss at a certain moment or it will wipe the group....instead of say a lunge mech make it a CC mech..

agreed.... the game itself has made the power dumping aspect of a troll obsolete.